Surface decoration of sheet material



April 17, 1962 D. MORGENSTERN SURFACE DECORATION 0F SHEET MATERIAL Filed Feb. 17, 1958 David Morgensiern IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS- United States Patent Oflflce 3,030,232 Patented Apr. 17, 1962 The present invention relates to the production of a novel type of surface ornamentation on webs or sheets of material. More particularly, it relates to the process for producing novel color or design effects on the surfaces of sheet materials such as the new non-woven textiles, and particularly non-woven textiles of the type described and claimed in U.S. Patent No. 2,719,802.

The non-woven textile described in said patent is a fabric-like, porous, flexible sheet material consisting of an open skeleton of intermingled, fine, cardable, polyposed fibers constituting about 30% to about 75% of the total weight of said sheet, said skeleton having substantially uniformly distributed therethrough and adhering to the fibers filmy particles of a flexible, solid binder material cementing adjacent fibers together and being disposed primarily in the region of the crossing points of the fibers while maintaining the polyposed arrangement of said fibers without affecting the porosity of said sheet.

Heretofore, in the production of non-woven textiles of this type color effects were for the most part achieved by use of colored fibers or filaments in conjunction with uniformly colored or pigmented binders, such treatments giving rise to uniformly colored or mottled products rather than to specific color effects. The non-woven fibrous sheet materials according to the above mentioned patent are highly porous and conventional printing is irregularly from one surface to the opposite surface of the material. This produces unsightly spots on the reverse side and also makes it diificult to decorate both sides by printing.

It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide a non-woven sheet material, and more particularly, a non-woven sheet material of the type described and claimed in U.S. Patent No. 2,719,802, at a relatively low cost with surface ornamentation without sacrifice of the feel or other physical properties of the sheet material.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel type of surface decoration which tenaciously adheres to the surface of the non-woven sheet it is coated on.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for decorating both surfaces of non-woven sheet material either similarly or differently so that either surface can be exposed and so that the undersurface will still be decorated in the event that it becomes visible.

A further object is to provide surface decoration of a random and non-repeating nature for a non-woven sheet material, the decoration imparting a sculptured effect to the material and giving a feeling of depth.

Still another object is to provide a non-woven textile material which is reversible and exhibits a different appearance on both sides without unduly increasing the weight as is encountered when joining two fabrics.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a novel process for the surface decoration of non-woven textiles in particular which decoration can be applied at various stages in the formation of the non-woven sheet material.

ina wr s t t Pr e n e t it ha been,

found that a highly decorative pattern will be formed on the surface of non-woven sheet materials by spreading on the surface of the sheet material to be decorated a stable foam colored differently from the sheet material, and then breaking up such foam as for instance by drying. Because a foam is employed the results are achieved only on the treated surface, without bleeding or leaking through to the other surface, and a minimum of foam is required. Moreover, if both surfaces are treated with differently dyed or pigmented foams, two differently colored and independent ornamental designs may be obtained on the two opposite surfaces.

The novel decoration of the present invention is especially suited for non-woven materials, which can be decorated by other techniques only with relative difficulty and expense.

The fabrics described in this patent may be manufactured from various fiber mixtures and binders. The novel surface treatment of the present invention can be applied to the sheet material at various stages of its manufacture. However, if both the binder used in forming the non-woven sheet material and the binder of the decorative stable foam are vulcanizable, then it may be .more economical to effect the decorative foam treatment of fleece of superposed webs or cardable fibers, the fleecebeing subsequently treated with a binding agent. This fleece may be treated with a binding agent by forcing a binder foam therethrough; preferably after the fleece has been given a preliminary stabilization so that it will not be disrupted by the binder impregnation. A suitable pre-stabilization comprises a pretreatment of one of the surfaces of the fleece with a light stable foam which does not penetrate the fleece but which nonetheless serves to hold the fleece together slightly through contact with the fibers which constitute the treated surface.

Generally, the foam to be used according to the present invention comprises a film-forming binder material and Wetting agents to give it body and stability, and suitable amounts of pigment to produce the desired color. The binder materials are preferably dispersible or emulsifiable in water and suitable materials include natural rubber, new or reclaimed, the so-called synthetic rubbers such as polybutadienestyrene, polybutadieneacrylonitrile, chloroprene, the so-called thermoplastic synthetic resins such as the polyvinyl esters, the polyvinylidene esters, the polyacrylates, polystyrene and the like, or mixtures of such materials.

The binder is preferably employed as an aqueous emulsion and is present in an amount ranging from about 5% to about 20% of the weight of the water. If the binder is vulcanizable the binder emulsion may also contain vulcanization agents, accelerators and the like, and should also contain pigment or dyestuff ranging between about 0.25% and 4% of the weight of the filmforming binder. The binder suspension may be formed into a foam by being blown with gas, the foam containing about 7 to about 15 volumes of gas per volume of liquid.

The invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic showing of the surface treatment of a non-woven sheet material in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing of the substantially simultaneous treatment of both surfaces of non-Woven sheet material;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views of specimens of sheet material treated on one surface and on both surfaces, respec tively, in accordance with the present invention, one corner of each specimen being bent up to show the reverse side; and

FIG. 5 is a View of a specimen decorated in a different manner on both sides.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, in FIG. 1 there is shown a sheet of non-woven material 11 advancing through a drying chamber 12. A trough 13 is positioned above the sheet 11 in advance of the chamber 12, the trough and sheet being of approximately the same width in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. Pigmented foam 14 is continuously formed in the trough 13 by air blowing of an aqueous pigmented latex emulsion, and the foam is pushed over the end of the trough by means of paddles 15 carried by endless belt 16 which is moved by rollers 17. The foam 14 drops onto the surface of sheet 11 and forms a thin foam layer due to doctor blade 18 which prevents excess foam from piling up. The heat within drying chamber 12 completes break-up of the foam and deposits a random, colored, two-dimensional, net-1ike pattern on the surface of the non-woven sheet material 11.

A completed non-woven sheet with one surface decorated is shown in PEG. 3.

In FIG. 2 there is schematically shown the method for treating both surfaces of a sheet. The white or uniformly colored sheet 19 moves to the right under trough 20 which contains colored e.g., red foam 21. Red foam 21 is continuously being generated in the trough 20 and is continuously being overflowed by paddles 22 of endless belt 23, the belt being rotated by rollers 24. A thin foam layer is built up, the height of the layer being determined by the positioning of doctor blade 25. The white sheet 19 with red foam on one surface passes about roller 26 so that its untreated surface is disposed beneath trough '27 holding black foam 28. Paddles 29, carried by belt 36 which rotates by means of rollers 31, scrape off superfluous foam '28 onto the untreated surface of sheet 19. Doctor blade 32 determines the thickness of the black foam and partially breaks up the foam.- The sheet 1? then advances into drying chamber 33 and is rolled up on reel 34.

As seen in FIG. 4, one of the surfaces of the sheet material 19 is provided with red decoration while the other surface is provided with black decoration. While on both surfaces the decoration or coloring is random, the average size of the network meshes will depend upon the spacing of the respective doctor blades, the average size of the foam cells which is in turn due to the rate of gas blowing and the consistency of the binder emulsion, and the speed of passage of the sheet material.

Conveniently, the sheet 19 of FIG. 2 is a sheet of non-woven material which has previously been impregnated and dried but not yet vulcanized. After treatment as shown in FIG. 2, the reels 34 can be vulcanized so that the sheets will be vulcanized simultaneously with the surface decoration.

In place of the representative apparatus shown, the foam can also be produced in a colored container such as the Oakes Automatic Mixer which produces foam under pressure. The foam can be discharged under the pressure within the container through nozzles, the disposition and motion of the nozzles relative to a moving sheet producing a variety of patterns with the novel net- 4 like configuration, viz., stripes, dots, wavy lines, checkerboard, and the like.

In FIG. 5 there is shown a sheet material 35 produced in this manner, one surface 36 being striped due to spacing of the nozzles. The other surface 37 is provided with a checker-board pattern. This is achieved by having discharge nozzles positioned adjacent one another across the full width of the sheet. Alternate nozzles are operated initermittently to produce the pattern.

While the surface decoration has the appearance of a thin net, it cannot be separated from the sheet itself. The decoration generally adheres to the fibers of the sheet more tenaciously even than the fibers adhere to each other and thus the sheet will pull apart before the deco-v ration will come away.

An ordinary paste, ink or paint printed surface design or decoration cannot achieve the penetrating bond with the binder material which is achieved with the foam'surface decoration of the present invention. The strong and tenacious bind between the coated fibers of the sheet or the sheet binder and the surface decoration assures a long lasting coating. Yet, this surface decoration is thin, light and net like and does not impart any uneven stiffnes to the treated sheet.

The weight added to the sheet will of course depend upon the factors previously mentioned but at any rate it will be extremely little and substantially insignificant. Consequently, even though both surfacesare treated the sheet will not be materially increased in weight. The sheet material following ornamentation and decoration as herein described can be subjected to any conventional aftertreatments such as sizing, calendering or finishing. Because of the nature of the decoration the porosity of the sheet remains unaltered. The stiffness sometimes noted when paste printing is employed is absent, and

the color effects of the decoration are visible only from the treated surface so that the decoration of one surface does not show through to the other. weight of textile per square meter it is not possible by conventional techniques to decorate each surface differently without having the colors of one surface decoration show through to the other.

The following examples illustrate procedures-in ac-' cordance with the present invention:

Example I A fiber mixture is prepared from by weight of synthetic protein fibers and 20% by weight of cotton fibers.

The mixture is formed into loose webs having a thickness of 0.25 mm. and a weight of 22 g. per square m.

Twenty such webs are placed at an angle on top of one another and the resulting multilayer structure is condensed with heat and pressure and slight longitudinal stretching to produce a fleece weighing about 400 g. per square m. This fleece is passed in a continuous system at a comparatively high speed through the followingv impregnating stages.

In the first stage, a foam comprising about 10 parts of air for each part of liquid andformed from a dispersion containing about 10% by weight of binder solids is For the same Liquid Solid Parts Parts B. B.W.

butadiene aerylonitrile polymer dispersion (50%).- 300 150 sodium isobutylene naphthalene solution (wetting agent) (60%) 150 90 ultra-vulcanization accelerator dispersion (25%) 8 2 zinc oxide dispersion (50%)--- 16 8 sulphur dispersion (50%) 6 3 antioxidant dispersion (50%) 4 2 softened water 16 About 72 parts by weight of solid binder material are incorporated into the fleece per 100 parts by weight of fibers. The material is then dried and undergoes a longitudinal stretching to about twice the length of the original fleece and correspondingly the fiber content of the material per square m. is reduced about 50% by weight. The resulting sheet material has a thickness of about 1.2 mm. and a weight of about 350 g. per square m.

The sheet material is then treated in the manner shown in FIG. 2 with foamed coloring agents. The foams have the same composition as for the pre-stabilization but differ therefrom in that the binder dispersion applied to one side includes 1 part of Indo Orange Lake E 10314 per 100 parts of binder to impart a red color, While the binder dispersion applied to the other side includes 1 part of Black LPC 900 per 100 parts of binder to impart a black color. Following drying, all the binders are vulcanized.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending application, Serial No. 564,235, filed February 8, 1956, now abandoned.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that such obvious changes and modifications be embraced by the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. The process for producing decorative surface ornamentation on a non-woven fiber resin bonded, flexible textile sheet material comprising the steps of providing on at least one surface of said non-woven bonded sheet material a foam of a compatible resinous dispersion, and thereafter drying said non-Woven material and breaking up said foam on said surface of the sheet without penetration of the foam into the sheet whereby said dried foam adheres to the surface of said non-woven sheet with greater tenacity than the bonded fibers of said sheet adhereto each other.

2. The process for producing surface ornamentation on a non-woven fiber, resin bonded, flexible textile sheet material as defined in claim 1 wherein said compatible foam dispersion is colored differently from said sheet material.

3. A non-woven fiber flexible textile sheet material having fibers bonded together with a vulcanizable binder and a surface coating of a net-like random deposit of a dried compatible vulcanizable binder on at least one surface of the sheet material, the penetration of said coating being limited to the surface of the sheet, the adhesion between said binders being greater than the adhesion between the fibers of said non-woven textile sheet.

4. A non-woven fiber flexible textile sheet material as defined in claim 3 wherein said dried surface binder deposit is of a color different from said bonded fibers.

5. A non-woven fiber flexible textile sheet as defined in claim 3 wherein said fibers consist of a skeleton of intermingled, fine, cardable, polyposed fibers constituting about 30% to about of the total weight of said sheet, said fibers being cemented together by said vulcanizable binder primarily at the crossing points of said adjacent fibers.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,777,945 Untiedt Oct. 7, 1930 2,165,392 Lilienfeld July 11, 1939 2,293,928 Beal Aug. 25, 1942 2,541,868 Gordon Feb. 13, 1951 2,719,795 Nottebohm Oct. 4, 1955 2,719,802 Nottebohm Oct. 4, 1955 2,758,036 Cyr Aug. 7, 1956 2,774,074 Lehmann Dec. 18, 1956 2,795,207 Marco June 11, 1957 2,864,777 Greenhoe Dec. 16, 1958 

1. THE PROCESS FOR PRODUCING DECORATIVE SURFACE ORNAMENTATION ON A NON-WOVEN FIBER RESIN BONDED, FLEXIBLE TEXTILE SHEET MATERIAL COMPRISING THE STEPS OF PROVIDING ON AT LEAST ONE SURFACE OF SAID NON-WOVEN BONDED SHEET MATERIAL A FOAM OF A COMPATIBLE DISPERION, AND THEREAFTER DRYING SAID NON-WOVEN MATERIAL AND BREAKING UP SAID FOAM ON SAID SURFACE OF THE SHEET WITHOUT PENETRATION OF THE FOAM INTO THE SHEET OF THE SHEET WITHOUT PENEFOAM ADHERES TO THE SURFACE OF SAID NON-WOVEN SHEET WITH GREATER TENACITY THAN THE BONDED FIBERS OF SAID SHEET ADHERE TO EACH OTHER. 